I first started programming Workbench Explorer (WEx) four years ago usingWinUAE and OS3.9. I soon out grew SAS/C so upgraded to OS4.1 when PPC supportwas added to WinUAE. It took 25 minutes to compile with full optimization.Talk about slowing down progress. Then the X5000 came out and I jumped at theopportunity. It now takes less than three minutes to do a full compile withfull optimization. This greatly increased productivity!

As I look back over this last year, I am very pleased with the outcome. Iachieved all of my goals and more. I always felt the Amiga was lacking a goodfile browser that could do more than the typical DOS functions. I use WEx ona daily basis, and I hope many others are as well. WEx can do it all in oneprogram.

Many people have complained about how slow WEx is when scanning a drawer witha lot of images. It is not WEx, it is the datatypes. A while back I addedthis feature to help:

###### [1.3 build 2800] - 2017-06-28### Added- Preferences->Datatypes category.You can now select when to check what datatype a file is, or not at all. - When scanning a drawer: check all files now when scanning a drawer. - When select item in list: only once an item is clicked on. - Never: never.Also when scanning a drawer:For images, if Dimensions column is not shown, then no further examination.For music, if no MP3 columns are shown, then no further examination.

Or split those large drawers into smaller, more manageable ones.Or get an AmigaOne X5000 or an AmigaOne A1222 Tabor.

To keep up with the latest version, use the built-in updater in the Projectmenu "Check latest version...".

AmiUpdate

Aminet: aminet.net/util/dir/workbenchexplorer.lha

OS4Depot: os4depot.net/share/utility/filetool/workbenchexplorer.lha

AmigaOnTheLake.com software section

For this version I put most of the focus on speed and stability:

###### [2.0 build 7500] - 2018-05-01 One year anniversary release!!!### Added- Preferences->Window->Menu image size.For normal (24x24) or more compact (16x16) menus.- WHDLoad game support. You have to enable the support and specify the rootdrawer of the games in Preferences->Icons. Expect to see less details whenin the games drawers; the icons are not OS4 friendly.The game icon is shown on the .slave file. Double-clicking the slave filewill act as if you double-clicked the game icon on Workbench, so no settingsare lost. RunInUAE will start and load the game.All view styles are supported for showing the game icon, and will also show inthe icon thumbnail and Preview panes.If "Process .info files automatically" is turned off you still have to doubleclick the slave file to launch the game.- The path is highlighted in the Navigation pane and follows you around.- Preferences->FTP Sites now has a full editor on the page instead of usingrequester windows.- Preferences->FTP Sites->Port. Default 21.- Preferences->FTP Sites->Timeout. Default 120. ---Currently not available---- Preferences->FTP Sites->Anonymous.- Preferences->FTP Sites->Password. ---Currently not available---- Preferences->FTP Sites->Remote drawer.Enter your custom starting drawer, or leave blank for root.- New column for FTP Sites, Remote drawer.- Preferences->Window->Open on own screen.Iconify and Jump To Screen are not available when on own screen.- If multiple tabs are open at the same path and a DOS change is made in one,the others are set to refresh when switch to them.- Preview Text is now a texteditor.gadget. This allows highlighting of textand copying it to the clipboard via Right-Amiga+C. This is the only functionavailable in read only mode.NOTE: In order to use the mouse scroll wheel you have to click on the texteditor gadget first. Then click on content listbrowser to get focus back tothere.- Preferences->Preview->Text files->Use default fontPreferences->Preview->Text files->Font.Default "DejaVu Sans.font",14.Specify the font for Preview Text and the EXIF data panes.

### Fixed- Filenotes were lost when switch view style or sorting.- User Buttons command paths are now encased in quotes when use the filepicker in Preferences->User Buttons. Else you have to add your own quotes ifthere are spaces in the path name.- When deleting a drawer that is open on Workbench, it is now closed firstthen attempted to be deleted.- The buffer for making multiple new drawers was not cleared correctly.- Rename, Filenote, Set Protection, New Drawer functions updated.- Search results could possibly select wrong item type.- OS4Depot Recent and Aminet Recent are now always sorted by date in reverse.- "Put away" was disabled incorrectly on toolbar.- Workbench sorting.- Information was disabled when at FTPMount: and a site(s) was selected.- FTP sites history trail path was not set correctly.- Typing in "FTP Sites" in path gadget was not working.- Path bug in Paste when keeping multiple copies or rename.- Another path bug in Paste.- Paste didn't always set the filenote and protection bits.- Eliminated the flicker of gadget updates.- Device driver was not retrieved correctly after a change a few versions ago.- When pasting to a network share or FTPMount: protection, comment and dateare no longer attempted to be set. It usually caused errors.- Preferences->Toolbar not moving correct item up/down.- The top node is correctly remembered when switch tabs, reload a drawer, orchange history location.

### Changed- After an "Extract to default path" the source path is no longer reloaded.- After a rename the drawer is no longer reloaded. The list is just sortedand rebuilt.- After adding a filenote the drawer is no longer reloaded. The list is justsorted and rebuilt.- After setting protection bits the drawer is no longer reloaded. The listis just sorted and rebuilt.- After adding a new drawer the drawer is no longer reloaded. The new draweris added to the list, sorted and rebuilt.-After setting a file's date the drawer is no longer reloaded. The list isjust sorted and rebuilt.- Workbench AppIcons are no longer shown when at Workbench.- Preview Text is now a texteditor.gadget.- Simplified Computer and Device previews.- Preview Device does not show Device Driver and Device Unit lines for devicesthat don't have them. (ie, RAM:)- Minimum height of Preview Pane increased to 175 to prevent clipping.- When iconify a sound/MP3 or animation will keep playing, images are notcleared, text files are not cleared, etc.- When open a sub-window the Preview Pane is not cleared, but actions arepaused/stopped. MP3s and other sounds can be resumed if using theEnhancer Pack datatypes.- When pasting to FTPMount: the available free space is not checked anymore.

### Removed- The filenote was being added to the icon, if it had one.- Protection bits are no longer automatically set for the owner's icon.- Separate Workbench sorting column. Same as Content.- Preferences->FTP Sites->Add, no longer uses the multiple requesters.- FTPMount: from devices list (but still checked for). Does not work properlyon most systems. You will have to add your sites to Preferences->FTP Sites.- Iconify and Jump To Screen are not available when on own screen.

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PLEASE NOTE:

smbfs 1.102 does not seem to work reliably when pasting to a NAS drive.Revert to smbfs 1.74 until an update is made to smbfs.

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My forum was being spammed by Russian hackers so I shut down all newregistrations. I think I have them all blocked now. If you would like tojoin my forum, I would love to hear from you. I am always on the look outfor new features to add, bugs, and tweaks. Sign up on the forum, then send anemail to: support (at) mritter0.comSubject: ForumBody: your user name

I hope you enjoy and use WEx on a daily basis. I have put over 7,000 man hoursinto WEx. WEx will always be free, but any donation is greatly appreciated.Even a simple "thank you" message. Help keep me motivated to keep updatingWEx.

Before Facebook, Before Google + Or Twitter, there was IRC (Internet Relay Chat)

IRC (to quote a joke) is multiplayer notepad, with an IRC client such as Wookiechat or Amirc (on the amiga platform) you selecet a network of IRC Servers (In this case irc.amigaworld.net) and for the purpose of tonight join the Amigans.net IRC Channel #amigans (this is before twitter stole the hash tag)

Anyhow before the days of social media, the IRC scene was buzzin with people chatting to each other (via private chat rooms) or on a main channel, taking part in either discussions or (as is human nature) flame wars.

IRC night is a chance to re-live the days when IRC was king and before social media took over(newbies welcome!)

Our IRC night is an infrequent thing, and its announced a week or so in advance. The IRC Service runs 24/7 and there are always people logged in, but IRC night gives us a chance to see the numbers swell to their hayday in Amiga land and gives us a chance to catch up with old friends.

This is a step-by-step description of how to install the latest OS4 SDK (53.15) for use with Cubic IDE. Please note that Cubic must be installed prior to installing the SDK, together with the compiler suite (the C/C++ Add-On package) including GCC 4.0.4 for OS4 (we will update this with the new GCC from the SDK).

1. Download SDK 53.15 from Hyperion's website.

2. Create drawer "devkits:sdk/amigaos4/53.15". (If there is no devkits: assign in your system, then you haven't installed the C/C++ Add-On package - you MUST do it before installing the SDK).

3. Unpack the SDK archive and run "Install SDK". As your install path choose "devkits:sdk/amigaos4/53.15". Unselect the option "Create drawer "SDK" in destination drawer" located below the install path selection gadget. Make sure the GNU files are among the files selected for installation. Install the SDK.

4. Open a text editor, load "s:user-startup", comment out the entire SDK-related section the installer has added at the end of the file, and save it.

5. Load the file "devkits:sdk/amigaos4/53.15/S/sdk-startup" and comment out the GCC startup section, as follows:

;if exists SDK:s/gcc-startup; execute SDK:s/gcc-startup;endif

Save the file.

6. Load the file "devkits:scripts/user-startup". If you have installed SDK 51.22 previously (the last SDK version officially supported by Cubic IDE), modify the respective lines to look as follows:

If the 53.15 is the first OS4 SDK you install with Cubic, just add the four lines above. Save the file.

7. Create drawer "devkits:compilers/gcc/amigaos4/4.2.4".

8. Go to the "devkits:sdk/amigaos4/53.15/gcc" drawer and move or copy its entire contents to "devkits:compilers/gcc/amigaos4/4.2.4".

9. Load the file "devkits:devkits.config" and locate the compiler section "gcc for amigaos4/ppc". Modify the compiler home directory line to read

(home "devkits:compilers/gcc/amigaos4/4.2.4")

Then modify the includes section, to look as follows:

(includes"devkits:sdk/amigaos4/53.15/include/include_h""devkits:sdk/amigaos4/53.15/local/common/include""devkits:sdk/amigaos4/53.15/local/clib2/include")Save the file.

10. Reboot your Amiga. The SDK and the latest GCC compiler (4.2.4) should now be ready for use with Cubic IDE.

You'll notice that when Cubic is in the C/C++ mode, the "Change Compiler" menu still shows "Target: amigaos4 (gcc 4.0.4)" for the GCC compiler. You may want to edit this menu item in Cubic's settings (Extras/Customize...) for file type "gcc".